Our Lady's RC High School
Alworth Road, Higher Blackley, Manchester, M9 0RP
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Mr Lee Ormsby
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Diocese of Salford
- Constituency
- Blackley and Middleton South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,050
- Pupils on roll
- 1,046
- URN
- 105576
- Local authority
- Manchester
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01615079640
About this school
Our Lady's RC High School is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided secondary school in Manchester. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,046 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Strong standard
- Achievement
- Strong standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 174 | 174 | 207 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.9 | 48.6 | 49.1 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.35 +0.12 to +0.57 | +0.33 +0.11 to +0.55 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 45% | 46% | 45.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 66% | 72.4% | 67.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 45% | 43.1% | 40.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.3 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Our Lady's RC High School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Manchester average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 49.9 | 42.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.6 | 44.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 49.1 | 43.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 962 |
| 2023/24 | 999 |
| 2024/25 | 1,050 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Our Lady's RC High School compares
Our Lady's RC High School ranked 12th of 30 secondary schools in Manchester for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 73% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 74% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 49.1 | 4.4% | 44.6% | 1,046 | — |
| Co-op Academy Manchester | 44.9 | 13.2% | 52.9% | 1,554 | 0.5 miles |
| Co-op Academy North Manchester | 42.4 | 11.4% | 55.9% | 1,259 | 1.4 miles |
| Dixons Middleton Academy | 40.3 | 10.2% | 33.1% | 1,319 | 1.7 miles |
| Edgar Wood Academy | — | 9.7% | 45.5% | 729 | 1.8 miles |
| The King David High School | 55.4 | 8% | 19% | 708 | 1.8 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 44.57%
- English as an additional language
- 57.6%
- Overall absence
- 4.4%
- Persistent absence
- 10.05%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Co-op Academy Manchester0.5 miles
Secondary · Manchester
-
Co-op Academy North Manchester1.4 miles
Secondary · Manchester
-
Dixons Middleton Academy1.7 miles
Secondary · Manchester
-
Edgar Wood Academy1.8 miles
Secondary · Heywood
-
The King David High School1.8 miles
Secondary · Manchester
Other schools in Manchester
Our Lady's RC High School ranks 19th of the 59 ranked secondary schools in Manchester.
- Audenshaw School Secondary
- Broadoak School Secondary
- Burnage Academy for Boys Secondary
- Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School Secondary
- Chorlton High School Secondary
- CHS South Secondary
- Co-op Academy Belle Vue Secondary
- Co-op Academy Failsworth Secondary
- Co-op Academy Manchester Secondary
- Co-op Academy North Manchester Secondary
- Co-op Academy Swinton Secondary
- Co-op Academy Walkden Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Our Lady's RC High School teach?
- Our Lady's RC High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Manchester.
- Who is the headteacher of Our Lady's RC High School?
- The headteacher of Our Lady's RC High School is Mr Lee Ormsby, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Our Lady's RC High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Our Lady's RC High School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Our Lady's RC High School?
- Our Lady's RC High School has 1,046 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Our Lady's RC High School full?
- Our Lady's RC High School has capacity for 1,050 pupils and 1,046 on roll (100%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Our Lady's RC High School a faith school?
- Yes. Our Lady's RC High School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Salford.
- Is Our Lady's RC High School a selective school?
- No. Our Lady's RC High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Our Lady's RC High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49.9 in 2022/23 and 49.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Our Lady's RC High School rank locally?
- Our Lady's RC High School ranked 12th of 30 secondary schools in Manchester for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 73% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 74% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Our Lady's RC High School's absence rate?
- Our Lady's RC High School's overall absence rate is 4.4% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Our Lady's RC High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Our Lady's RC High School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.